Issue

AMOLED use in small/medium displays prompts more suppliers, more adopters

05/01/2012

Active matrix organic light-emitting diodes (AMOLEDs) are moving from small-quantity development into higher volumes, with shipments destined for smartphones driving growth in the small- and medium-sized display (SMD) market in February, said IHS. SMDs are displays smaller than 10" diagonally.

Total SMD shipments hit 186.8 million units in February, up 9% from January, serving mobile handset, tablet and digital still camera makers, according to an IHS iSuppli Small & Medium Displays PriceTrak report. The increase brought to an end 4 straight months of shipment declines that started in October 2011 (see the figure).

AMOLED displays are gaining market share, and increased orders are coming in from Chinese electronics vendors. Worldwide shipments of AMOLED mobile handset displays are expected to increase sequentially by 14% in Q1 2012 and by 80% compared to the same time a year ago.

AMOLED displays are lighter weight and offer more saturated colors than traditional LCD panels. Samsung Electronics, Nokia Corp., and HTC Corp. have adopted AMOLED displays for new mobile handsets. AMOLED displays will gain more share as tablet PCs switch to the technology, likely this year.